LIT Offers Alternative To Armed Officers In Schools

Putting guns in schools is terrifying and traumatic. Children all over the country are calling for no guns in their schools. We should be investing in public schools not weaponizing them. But the Wisconsin Assembly yesterday, passed a bill, to fund arming officers inside of public schools.

MIlitarization and criminalization of schools does not work. Milwaukee has tried, and in the process created a massive school to prison pipeline. We are currently engaged in an effort to have Milwaukee Public Schools rethink school safety in response to a federal Office of Civil Rights agreement regarding the disproportionate rate of suspending Black students.

We know how to make schools safer: end criminalization and suspension, and instead invest in social services, licensed support professionals, and smaller classroom sizes. Students at this moment need compassion, not bullets inside their schools.

Youth leaders from Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT), have a plan to create safe and inclusive schools. This blueprint will end the school to prison pipeline in Milwaukee and can serve as a model for the nation.

We are looking to the youth of Milwaukee to guide and inspire that effort. We hope legislators in Madison will come to their senses - the state senate must reject this bill - and listen to the youth calling for change in our state and across the country.

Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT) is a youth of color led organization engaging in values-based issue and electoral organizing, direct action, advocacy for public policy, and leadership development. On campuses and communities in Milwaukee, we organize young people to build independent political power for social, racial and economic justice.